FCE blog hop: favorite ribbon / prize / award?
What is your favorite ribbon / prize / award that you've won in relation to horses? Is there a story behind it? Or was it a bucket list prize you'd been chasing for ages? It doesn't have to be from a traditional horse show, and ribbons that are the favorite bc they are the prettiest are just as awesome as awards with a great story.
I had just recently been thinking about this very thing because of a little project I have been working on. I have been known to be a little bit crafty/artistic and love to make things. I may not be good at art, but I love trying just the same!
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| Love purple! |
I do have a few ribbons that are particularly special to me and I wanted to have a way to display those few that I hold near and dear.
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| But teal is so nice! |
So I came up with the idea of a wall hanger to display them -- but then I could not decide on any one particular colour or design, and made more.
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| I love how the horses turned out, but not sure of the blue. |
I am still not sure which is my favorite! The extras I think I will try and sell at an upcoming tack sale that I have a table rented for.
As for the special ribbon, there is one that I think of from my 4-H days. I had made the team to go to Provincials on my OTTB. This was such a big deal for me as I had not gotten to take a horse in previous years. The group I was going with were not very nice... Most of my group had fancy, expensive horses and big family names. I had actually started to believe they were better than me.
My financial situation was scrape 'n save and my horse was just a $600 thoroughbred that I had trained myself. At most of our 4-H shows, the people with important names usually got placed in the classes and I had pretty much accepted it.
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| The cherished ribbon currently hanging in the tack shed. |
At the provincials I gave it my all and enjoyed the classes - everything from western pleasure, reining, gymkhana and english jumping and equitation. I was blessed with a real english judge (rather than the western judge doing all the classes as per usual) and she had an unbiased mind with no knowledge of the "big shot" names of the western pleasure world I was coming from.
It was truly an incredible moment for me! I kicked ass and won first in the english class while my big shot team picked their jaws up off the floor. Hard work sometimes pays off! :)
what an awesome story! i know exactly what you mean about being surrounded by recognizable names and fancy expensive horses... it can really wear you down! except what a moment it must have been to step on to a bigger stage where those names meant less and it came down to real riding above all else! i would cherish that ribbon too haha.
ReplyDeletealso - i LOVE those ribbon hangers - what a clever idea (and light years nicer than my current baling twine situation). thanks for joining the hop :)